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Next up was plumbing the lines. I removed the factory hose crimps from the hard lines next to the front of the engine and pulled the hoses off. Since the stock cooler lines turned out to be aluminum (which made it a lot easier to use the flaring tool with) I cut up the portion I removed that ran into the radiator to use as 90 degree bends.

Then I cut off the ends that went into the radiator and turned them into plugs to help prevent future contamination or leaking of coolant if somehow the cooler that is still in the radiator develops a leak.

Then I plumbed the lines using the hose provided in the kit and some fuel injection clamps. The hoses drop down under the radiator and below the sway arm and back up to the hard lines that run back to the transmission. I made sure to plumb it so that the fluid flows from the bottom of the cooler to the top to prevent air pockets. The hoses do rest on the skid plate though, so I want to try and figure out a way to keep that from happening so that they don't rub through. I also want to get some split loom that is big enough to go around the hoses to help protect them. All the split loom I have right now is too small.

And all buttoned up. I finally finished this all up at 3AM Sunday morning, mostly because I was being extremely particular about everything and trying to make sure this was as optimal as I could make it. I wanted it to be a once and done deal, rather than rushing it and then having to go back later and redo it. I do still want to go back and pull the brackets off and paint them black so that they blend in, and probable replace the hardware with stainless steel, but that's all minor tweaks.

The transmission cooler is a Long 4590, it's supposed to be good for up to 28,000 GVWR but as an add on cooler to the factory cooler. Since I'm completely bypassing the factory cooler I wanted to make sure I had plenty of cooling for the transmission, particularly since I have lots of mountains around here and will be towing a trailer more frequently. It's supposed to have a built in bypass, but if I find that it's overcooling (particularly during winter is my concern) then I'll add in a thermal bypass later on. I also picked this one up for just over $80 shipped, so why not?